TORRINGTON, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team captured their first win of the season, holding Eastern Wyoming College to just seven points in the final six minutes to earn the 81-78 win Tuesday night in Torrington, Wyoming.
WNCC head coach Roybell Baez said they had their ups and downs, but the defensive intensity to overcome a 9-point deficit with 6:20 to play and then to hold EWC to just seven points the rest of the game was crucial.
“I thought the game was up and down. We had our stretches when we weren’t playing very well, but we also had more stretches of playing good,” Baez said. “And, honestly, I thought our guys did a really good job of staying together. This is a really tough place to play.”
The biggest thing is the Cougars found a way to win and that involved playing a tough defense down the stretch and hitting some big shots compared to their first four games against nationally recognized teams.
“The last couple of games, whenever that last stretch came around, I got a little agitated and a little animated and the guys didn’t respond well to that,” Baez said. “So, today, I made sure that I tried to stay calm and just coach the game because it’s a long game and we’ve seen a lot of crazy things happening in this gym.
“So, just staying poised and just continuing to coach the guys to do the right thing and I thought they did that tonight. That last six minutes showed a lot of character. Again, we’ve been through four games against some of the top teams in the country and we’ve been in pretty much every game except one, which was the last game against Butler. We just weren’t able to finish. So, I feel like learning how to win a game is the hardest thing to do in college and we understand how hard it is to win. I thought our guys did a good job of figuring out a way to win tonight.”
WNCC got the win and it was one where EWC led for 31 minutes of the game and the Cougars only led for five minutes. There were 13 lead changes and eight ties.
WNCC shot 49 percent from the field and buried 8-of-26 3-point shots. EWC shot 56 percent and made 5-of-20 3-pointers.
WNCC had four players in double figures, led by Viktor Lukic-Gavric with 27 points including four 3-pointers. Toms Linis added 13 points while Dorin Nguema had 11 and Isaiah St. Preux had 10 points. Nguema had a double-double in the win as he also led the team with 13 rebounds.
EWC had five players in double figures, led by Dresdon Jersen with 20 points followed by Isiah Ayala with 13, Jumarion Weh and Jaironn Speights each with 11, and Ryan Aye with 10 points.
The contest was a battle in the first half. EWC led by nine points at 25-16. WNCC came back and trailed 30-27 on a dunk by Amare Jackson and a 3-pointer by Lukic-Gavric. . WNCC finally took the lead at 39-38 with over a minute to play on a steal and bucket by Lukic-Gavric. EWC led 43-42 at intermission.
WNCC held a 53-51 lead early in the second half. EWC scored nine straight to lead 60-53 and led by nine, 71-62 with 6:20 to play. That was when WNCC went on a 10-0 run that saw Lukic-Gavric hit two triples. The two teams were knotted at 76-76 on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Drezdon Jensen with two minutes left. WNCC took a 78-76 lead on a Dorin Nguema bucket. EWC tied things at 78 on two free throws. Both teams went over a minute without scoring. WNCC took an 80-78 lead with 14.3 seconds to play. EWC came down and turned the ball over. Linis was fouled with 3.1 seconds and hit one free throw and a last second heave by EWC come up inches short of going in.
WNCC will be back in action this weekend when they head to Arizona to face Eastern Arizona College and Cochise College. EWC will be back in action this weekend when they head to Price, Utah, to face Utah State Eastern and Colorado Northwestern.
WNCC 42 39 – 81
EWC 43 35 – 78
WNCC
Xavier Kirkpatrick 8, Viktor Lukic-Gavric 27, Amare Jackson 7, Dorin Nguema 11, Toms Linis 13, Melchi Egbeyemi 3, Kellon Harris 2, Isaiah St. Preux 10.
EWC
Vukaisin Spasojevic 8, Jumarion Weh 11, Jaironn Speights 11, Drezdon Jensen 10, Isiah Ayala 13, Adam Coxon 2, Toney Colleyns 3, Ryan Aye 10.

WNCC women win second straight with 77-52 win over EWC

TORRINGTON, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team only trailed twice in the contest while putting three in double figures to earn a 77-52 win over Eastern Wyoming College Tuesday in Torrington, Wyoming.
The Cougars were led in scoring by Ella Chesta-Carty with 15 points followed by Brynn Sybrant with 13 and Dunja Stojanovic with 12 points.
Stojanovic said the defense played well in helping the Cougars to their second straight win, and that defensive intensity led to offensive points.
“When we were defending, we had each other’s back. We communicated well and fought for every rebound,” Stojanovic said. “We decided to step up and open the game hard. We attacked them and played composed until the end. We shared the ball and the bench was active which brought so much energy for people on the court.”
All 10 players played and contributed in some way. While defense was a key, so was the Cougars rebounding. WNCC pulled down 39 rebounds to just 18 for EWC. Chesta Carty led the team with seven boards followed by Sybrant with six and three players – Veralyn Aviles, Charisma Johnson, and Stojanovic all had five.
Stojanovic said it was a complete game for the Cougars.
“I think that energy was insane tonight. The way we got hyped up after and-ones and the way we supported each other after any mistake or after any good pass made a change,” she said. “Another thing was execution. We really listened to our coaches and did the plays as intended.”
Stojanovic added, “We had a few very good practices this week and the result is what we saw in this game,, The team will use this to keep the streak going and practicing hard. The team was solid and everyone did their job to the best of their abilities. We had crazy defenders, people who took rebounds, drivers, and support from coaches and player players sitting down. We made each other compete and play harder.”
WNCC only trailed twice in the contest and that was twice in the first quarter at 2-0 and then 13-10. WNCC closed out the first quarter as Chesta-Carty hit a bucket and then Juseana-Rae Delatori nailed a triple for the 15-13 lead after the first 10 minutes.
WNCC continued where they left off in the first quarter scoring the first seven points for the second quarter capped off by Delatori’s second 3-pointer for a 22-13 lead. WNCC led 28-18 with five minutes to play and lead at halftime 34-22 as Sybrant hit a bucket at the buzzer.
The second half saw WNCC lead 38-25 on a Sybrant bucket. EWC sliced the deficit to just six points at 38-32 on two Yaiza Paredes buckets. WNCC went back up by 11 points at 43-32 only to watch EWC make it a 6-point contest with 4:18 to play in the third.
WNCC responded with a 9-2 run that saw Charisma Johnson score three buckets as well as an old-fashioned 3-point play by Stojanovic for a 52-39 lead. EWC’s Madison Bush-Lewis hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 52-42.
The final 10 minutes saw WNCC go up 6-46 after two Zozefine Sipolina two 3-pointers. Paredes came back with an old-fashioned 3-point play to make it an 11-point game. WNCC went on a 12-0 run that started with a Stojanovic triple and a Celina Donyo old-fashioned 3-point play for the 72-49 lead.
WNCC shot 46 percent from the field and 43 percent (9-of-21) from beyond the arc. The Cougars were 24-of-30 from the charity stripe. EWC shot 39 percent from the field and 26 percent (5-of-19) from behind the arc. The Lancers were 13-of-17 from the free throw line.
WNCC will be back in action Thursday when they host the Colorado State Club team at 5:30 p.m. at Cougar Palace. EWC will be back in action this weekend as they compete in a tournament at Utah State-Eastern where they will face Utah State-Eastern and Snow College. The Lancers will be back at home on November 20 when they face Northeastern Junior College.

WNCC 15 19 18 25 – 77
EWC 13 10 19 10 – 52
WNCC
Veralyn Aviles 7, Charisma Johnson 8, Zozefine Sipolina 6, Ella Chesta-Carty 15, Brynn Sybrant 13, Dunja Stojanovic 12, Juseana-Rae Delatori 9, Aniaya Burton-Hernandez 1, Celina Donyo 6.
EWC
Shamarie Smith 4, Lucy Devoy 5, Madison Bush-Lewis 17, Yaiza Paredes 15, Anadna Martinez 2, Lorrena Viarreal 2, Ally Mims 4, Morgan Williams 3.